After the Fall
by Clara Kingsley
Summary: After Bill is gone, the Northwest family decides to do what they do best. Take their money and run. Despite Pacifica's wishes to change her family, her parents have learned nothing from the apocalypse and refuse to live in squalor. So, they move away to a town with more people like them. Unfortunately, they soon find that fate and weirdness is following in their wake.


Chapter 1

The Aftermath of Weirdmageddon

After barely surviving the apocalypse at the epicenter of the chaos and disaster, the citizens of Gravity Falls had no choice but to try and simply move on with their lives. As impossible as it might've seemed, they really had no other choice other than forging ahead and slowly rebuilding their community once again. The town was wrecked beyond repair, Bill made sure every house and building was either burned personally, or crushed by one of his friends. The survivors were all currently living in tents in the town square, while various supplies were flown in from the government. Although, the rest of the country was trying to help their poor small town from calamity, they failed to understand what the cause of all this destruction was. Heck, the town barely understood it and it happened in front of their own eyes. The people who had all the answers were gone, leaving Mayor Cutebiker to try and explain the situation. Obviously, it didn't go well and their town became the laughing stock of the entire country. Bill, or as he's still known to the town, 'that unholy evil triangle guy' tore a hole in the sky and turned the town to hell, but apparently nothing happened anywhere else.

" _Mom, I don't want to move!"_

Pacifica Northwest was arguing with her mother, while they dug through the remains of Northwest Manor to salvage what they could. She was trying to stay true to her promise to Dipper, be a better person, and fix her family name. Sadly, though, Pacifica's parents had not learned the moral lessons they should have from the lumberjack haunting, or even Bill rearranging all the functions of her father's face. Sadly, Preston Northwest was back to normal and they were planning on taking their money, whatever was left of their fancy stuff and getting out of there while they still could. However, Pacifica actually wanted to stay and help. No one else was running away and neither should they. They're family may not have actually founded this town, but they still had the obligation to help it in times of need. Unfortunately, her parents still had too much power over her and what they said went. Even though she was still arguing, she knew it wouldn't matter and they were just going to leave in the end, "We should really be sticking around and helping clean up the town."

"And live where exactly, Pacifica? I for one am not going to continue to live in a tent, like some hobo." her mother replied, picking up her charred jewelry box and examining the contents to see if it was alright.

"But it's not right for the town to rebuild our house, while we sit around doing nothing," Pacifica argued. "I want to help."

"You've never worked a day in your life, sweetie. What could you possibly do to help?" her mother reasoned back, as he tried to fix her hair in the small mirror of the jewelry box. Unlike her daughter and her flat, blonde, slightly wavy hair, Pricilla Northwest was not about to succumb to the lack of haircare products so easily. "I don't have time for this right now, dear. Your father has already bought us a new house and we're leaving just as soon he gets back with the car."

Pacifica let out a frustrated grunt and stormed away from her mother. In attempt to distract herself from her rage, she began to rummage through the debris again. She wasn't particularly looking for anything, it was more of just keeping busy until her father arrived. Pacifica didn't realize, until everything was actually gone, but she didn't have any possessions she really cared about. Not a childhood toy, or an old family memento passed down to her. Even all her photographs with all her 'friends' and family shots at parties were just staged lies. There was nothing worldly tying her to this town anymore, Bill even melted that statue of Nathaniel Northwest. Maybe moving somewhere else would be for the best…

However, there in the rubble, she did spot something she actually found worth saving. She dug past fallen beams of wood and picked up a charcoaled photograph. It used to be a new photo, not more than a month old, of her, Dipper, Candy, Mabel and Grenda all scrunched together in the frame. It was at the last Northwest Fest after she let the town in and it got all hectic and fun. She never thought she'd take a selfie with those dorks, but Mabel had insisted documenting a legendary night. Surprisingly, the picture survived all the chaos. As she got up with the only thing worth saving, she suddenly noticed something odd the photo had been lying on top of. It was an ugly, old tapestry that had been hanging in her house for generations, yet she had never really given it a second glance before this very moment.

It was him.

The evil triangle guy. The sky was red and the human race was bowing to him, just like it had been a few days ago. It was prophesized and hanging in her house all her life, but why? It didn't make sense.

 _Maybe he would…No! You can't just call him out of the blue. That would be totally lame. Also, you don't even have his number or his email address._

Although, Pacifica wanted to just walk away from the tapestry and forget about it, she yanked it from the heap and begun to carry it back to her parents, already loading stuff into the car.

"Oh good, the bell survived." her father was saying, just as she was walking up with her salvage of the wreckage. He did a little test jingle, to make sure it still rung properly and she shivered at the sound.

 _Great..._

"Come on, I think we've gotten everything. Let's get going now." her father added, as Pacifica placed the tapestry into the car with all the valuables her parents had saved. Her father slammed the trunk shut and they all loaded into the car. She kept the photo with her in the back seat so it wouldn't be further damaged and she'd at least have something else to look at besides stupid trees for several hours.

"Where are we going anyway?"

"California."

One long, silent car ride and a night at a creepy highway motel later, they arrived somewhere in California. Pacifica still wasn't really keen on moving in the first place, so she didn't really bother to ask where. They pulled up the next afternoon to a house not much smaller than Northwest Manor. It was a gigantic beige color house with ivy covered stairs leading to the door. Ornamental, black ceramic lions guarded the place, with fearsome fangs raised at all who chose to enter. Pacifica marched up the stairs past the lions, clutching her only possessions, in a state of disbelief. There was even a pool, with a smaller pool inside of it.

"This is our new house?" Pacifica questioned. They had just been living in tent in a town destroyed by a weird apocalypse mere days ago. She thought that disgusting motel and her father actually having to drive meant that their fortune had gone down with the town? Did that horrific disaster really have zero effect on their finances?

"Did you really expect us to continue living in some sort of squalor, dear? Our manor may have burned, but our riches didn't." her father replied, pushing open the door. The inside was even more glamorous, it was like something out of a stock photo or a reality show touring around a celebrity's house. It wasn't as regal as Northwest Manor, but had that Hollywood flash to it. With the combination of the bell and an unchanged state of wealth, Pacifica suddenly worried that her new start here was already ruined by her parents only minutes after arriving.

"You start school Monday, Pacifica. Let's go out and buy you a new wardrobe tomorrow." her mother added, already making herself at home in one of the probably many hallway sitting areas.

"Hang on, I've just been through a traumatic event. Doesn't that at least warrant a few weeks off?" Pacifica argued. She hadn't gotten a chance to mentally prepare herself for the dreadful torture that was school because an evil triangle ripped a hole in the sky and filled the town with monsters. Also, she had never been to a place where no one knew who she was. Socially, she was nothing, and if she didn't get it right she'd be spending her year at the loser table at lunch.

"Well, all the schools started last Monday. You've had plenty of time off." her mother answered. "Besides, you can't keep wearing those rags, can you?"

"Fine..." Pacifica huffed. She _was_ kind of in desperate need of a new wardrobe. Her favorite purple cardigan was covered with holes, her dress was tattered so much it looked like she'd been living in the jungle for a few months, and her designer boots were nearing the end of their expected short lifespan.

She climbed up the giant grand stairs to seek out a room, decorate it with the only two things she had, and attempt to make it her own. After a bit of wandering and random opening of doors upon various sitting rooms and guest bedrooms, she stumbled on a powder blue room with fluffy white carpeting and a magnificent sea view. Judging by the flowery bedspread and the vanity mirror, this must've been it for her. She set the photo by the mirror, planning to tape it up with magazine clippings, like normal teenagers usually did, when she got the chance. She hung the tapestry over a white wicker chair by the windows and immediately ran to collapse onto the bed. She hated herself for giving into wealth but it was a secure and comforting feeling to have something as simple as her own bed to sleep on again. When you get in a fight with your friends, or fail a big test at school, you can always curl up in bed and try to forget about all your problems.

And that's exactly what Pacifica did.

She woke up to the swift opening of the curtains and the sudden pouring in of morning light. Normally, it would've been a maid and she would be silent and quick about it. However, it was her mother this morning, already somehow with a new wallet and purse in hand. She must've not have been able to wait for Pacifica to get her hands on such necessities of life.

"Come now, dear. Let's get moving." she smiled, chipper and seemingly happy. "We'd best hurry, we don't want the new neighbors seeing you out like that."

It was an awful start to what was bound to be an awful day. Normally, she liked shopping, as vapid an activity it was. It was something everyone liked at heart, even if they wouldn't admit it. Most dweebs would just probably go out shopping for different things, like books or other nerd stuff they were into. Pacifica just liked clothes. A new outfit could make you feel invincible, even when you weren't, and just feel better about yourself. That was she wanted and needed right now especially. However, with her mother's control on the money, Pacifica would never get that. They were in another boutique on the shopping strip and Pacifica was twirling a seafoam green dress in front of the dressing room mirror. It was just casual enough for the first day of school and cute enough to make a modest impression. She liked it. Her mother had not picked it out, naturally, though. Pacifica had swiped it from a rack when she wasn't looking, hoping when she saw it she might agree with her for once and let her get at least one thing she actually liked.

"Pacifica! What are you wearing?" her mother snapped, when Pacifica emerged from the dressing room in the dress.

"But mom, I think it's kind of cute—" Pacifica tried arguing, however, her mother held up a hand to silence her.

"Absolutely not!" she replied, immediately, giving no reason behind her decision. She walked behind Pacifica into her dressing room. "While you're taking off that monstrosity, I'm going to pay for these. Hurry up, we still have a zillion things to do today…"

"Just take it, sweetie. I know overbearing parents when I see them..."

A blonde middle-age woman was sitting on a bench at the other side of the dressing rooms, folding and hanging various tossed aside clothing. Judging by her apron, Pacifica deduced she worked here and she wasn't telling her to shoplift a dress.

"Oh no, I couldn't take a handout."

"Think of it as a welcome gift. You're new in town, huh?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Just a bit. You know you'll stick out like a sore thumb in those clothes your mother picked." the woman replied.

"Yeah...but it's not like I have a choice. It's their money." Pacifica sighed.

"How would you like to job here part time after school? Then you can earn all the money for things you want." the woman reasoned. Pacifica looked shocked. Was she serious?

"But I'm not old enough, or qualified enough. I have like zero clue how to work in a shop."

"It's a small boutique and I'm the owner, so I can do what I want."

"They'd never allow it." Pacifica added, looking back at her mother impatiently waiting at the register with an armful of clothes.

"Just tell them you're at a school club or something, you're young. Live a little," the woman answered, with a laugh. "Trust me you're going to want to start this independence now, if you're ever want to be free of them."

"Pacifica! Are you done yet?" her mother shouted, from over at the register.

"I'll think about it." Pacifica answered, quickly, rushing back into the dressing room. She got back dressed in an outfit they had bought at a previous shop and left the green dress in the dressing room. The woman came around to the cash register and started ringing up all their purchases. A slide of a shiny plastic card later and Pacifica left carrying her new wardrobe, thinking in a daze about the woman and her offer.

Monday came around, despite how much Pacifica didn't want it to. She never thought she'd actually miss 'time having no meaning'. By Monday they were pretty much back to the way they were living in Gravity Falls. Her father had a new realtor job, her mother didn't wake up before ten, and the only people that had to deal with Pacifica was the new maid, Annalise and the driver, Hugo. Pacifica woke up that morning in a groggy reluctance, but started to get ready regardless. After a quick shower, she dressed in jeans and a new lavender cardigan, trying to look as modest and humble as she possibly could. She drastically lightened her make up load too. She left the house to meet Hugo with a gigantic nervous knot in her stomach.

A few minutes later, they rolled up to a brick building that thankfully didn't look like a flashy school. It had other kids dressed in things like cartoon shirts and shoes that blinked. As Pacifica was trying think how to look casual stepping out of a Mercedes, a bell rung and all the other kids ran for the building. Feeling more lost and alone than ever Pacifica simply stepped out onto the pavement to an empty school yard.

"I believe you should go to the principal's office. Let me just park the car and I'll take you in." Hugo added, before she was able to close the door on him.

"That's fine. I can make it on my own." she replied, thinking specifically about the woman in the boutique. Independence.

After a lot of wandering, Pacifica found the administration and they gave her a class schedule. They offered to escort her to her classroom, but she refused saying she wanted to find it on her own. Eventually, after even more wandering, she arrived at room 618. As much as Pacifica wanted to peer inside and scope out the class first, the nervous knot in her stomach caused her to just quickly open the door and get it all over with.

Naturally, the class stared at the new arrival, except for the few who were sunk down on their arms half asleep.

"Oh, you must be the new student. Come this way, come on in!" the woman who was teaching remarked, cheerfully. Pacifica moved to the front of the class stiffly, like she was about to give a huge presentation. She tried to look calm and collected as possible, focus on the art on the walls and not on the other kids, "Class, this is Miss Pacifica Northwest and she'll be joining out class today."

 _Crack!_

The loud audible breaking of a pen was obvious. Someone sitting in the 6th seat in the row by the window had bit down on his pen just a little too hard at the sight of her. The crowd laughed and snickered at the smudges of ink all over the victim's discomfort, while he tried to spit out all the broken bits of springs and ink from his mouth. Pacifica could barely see the boy through the other kids who had turn to see him, however, she could hear mocking whispers calling him "Dipstick".

 _Dipstick?_

She thought about the cruel nickname for a second before she saw the brown tuft of hair sticking out of the brim of a blue and white pine tree hat. While the teacher tried to calm the out of hand class, she pointed Pacifica to an empty seat behind the boy. She walked at a slightly faster pace to see if her suspicions were confirmed, even though it was quite obviously him. Dipper Pines, proclaimed champion of justice and hero of the apocalypse, was sitting in front of her in homeroom class.


End file.
